Chip-on-board package having flip chip assembly structure and manufacturing method thereof

ABSTRACT

A chip-on-board (COB) package has a flip chip assembly structure and is used for an integrated circuit (IC) card. The COB package has conductive patterns as contact terminals on an outer surface of a non-conductive film, and an IC chip on an inner surface of the film. The film has a number of holes through which the conductive patterns are partly exposed. A number of conductive bumps on an active surface of the IC chip face the inner surface of the film and enter corresponding holes in the non-conductive film to mechanically join and electrically couple to the conductive patterns. The disclosed COB package and a related manufacturing method allow a reduction in production cost, simplified process, better electrical connections, and improved reliability.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 11/181,145, filed on Jul. 13, 2005, now pending, which claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 2004-88783, filed on Nov. 3, 2004, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to semiconductor package technology and, more particularly, to a chip-on-board (COB) package having a flip-chip assembly structure and to a manufacturing method thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art

An integrated circuit (IC) card, in which an IC chip is contained, can substitute for a conventional magnetic card. Generally, the IC chip is assembled in the form of typical COB package and then embedded in the IC card.

FIG. 1 shows, in a cross-sectional view, a conventional COB package used for the IC card. Referring to FIG. 1, the COB package 10 mounts in a card body 9 through one surface of the card body 9. Conductive patterns such as metal patterns 11 formed on the COB package 10 and exposed outside the card body 9 act as contact terminals of the IC card.

The metal patterns 11 are formed on an outer surface 12 a of a thin, non-conductive film 12. An IC chip 13 is attached on an inner surface 12 b of the non-conductive film 12. The non-conductive film 12 has several holes 12 c formed near the IC chip 13. Metal wires 14 electrically couple the IC chip 13 to the metal patterns 11 through the holes 12 c in the non-conductive film 12. The IC chip 13 and the metal wires 14 are encapsulated in a mold resin 15 provided on the inner surface 12 b of the non-conductive film 12. The mold resin 15 may protect and fix the IC chip 13 and the metal wires 14.

A typical package assembly process may be used to manufacture the aforementioned conventional COB package 10. Therefore, mass-productivity may be a merit of the conventional COB package 10. However, the IC card can be very thin, e.g., less than one millimeter thick, and can be inherently flexible. The conventional COB package 10 may tend to be affected by external force. In the conventional COB package 10, an active surface 13 a of the IC chip 13 faces toward the inside of the card body 9 while the metal patterns 11 face toward the outside of the card body 9. This makes the length of the metal wire 14 relatively longer. Often, poorer electrical connections arise from longer metal wires 14 in spite of protection by the mold resin 15.

FIG. 2 shows in cross-section another conventional COB package used for the IC card. COB package 20 has a flip chip assembly structure instead of the metal wires and the mold resin as discussed above.

Referring to FIG. 2, an active surface 23 a of an IC chip 23 faces toward a non-conductive film 22. Conductive bumps such as metal bumps 24 are formed on the active surface 23 a of the IC chip 23, and second metal patterns 21 a are formed on an inner surface 22 b of the non-conductive film 22. The second metal patterns 21 a are electrically coupled through interconnection vias 21 b to first metal patterns 21 formed on an outer surface 22 a of the non-conductive film 22. The metal bumps 24 are mechanically joined to the second metal patterns 21 a, providing electrical paths between the IC chip 23 and the first metal patterns 21.

Metal bumps 24 provide relatively shorter and more reliable electrical paths. The above-discussed flip chip assembly structure may not only have less possibility of poor electrical connections, but also may have no need of the mold resin. Conventional COB package 20, however, necessarily requires the second metal patterns 21 a on the inner surface 22 b of the non-conductive film 22. This represents greater production cost in comparison with the previous example using the metal wires.

The first and second metal patterns 21 and 21 a may be formed from metal plates, which are bonded to both surfaces 22 a and 22 b of the non-conductive film 22 and then patterned by selective etching in a photolithographic process. Therefore, using the second metal patterns 21 a as well as the metal bumps 24 may incur relatively higher production cost in comparison with using the metal wires. The process of forming the second metal patterns 21 a may be carried out separately from the process of forming the first metal patterns 21. As a result, this conventional COB package 20 may have no significant advantage in its manufacturing method.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Exemplary, non-limiting embodiments of the present invention provide a structure and a manufacturing method of a chip-on-board (COB) package allowing a reduction in production cost, simplified process, better electrical connections, and improved reliability.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the COB package comprises a non-conductive film, metal patterns, an integrated circuit (IC) chip, and a number of metal bumps. The non-conductive film has a first surface, a second surface opposite to the first surface, and a number of holes. The metal patterns are formed on the first surface of the non-conductive film, but partly exposed through the holes of the non-conductive film. The IC chip has an active surface facing the second surface of the non-conductive film. The metal bumps are formed on the active surface of the IC chip and insertable into the holes of the non-conductive film to mechanically join and electrically couple to the metal patterns.

In the COB package, the metal bumps may have a height greater than the thickness of the non-conductive film. For example, the height of the metal bump may be about 40 μm, e.g., between about 30 μm and about 50 μm, and the thickness of the non-conductive film may be about 10 μm to about 20 μm.

Further, the metal bumps may be made of gold and the non-conductive film may be made of epoxy or polyimide. The width of the metal bumps may be about 20 μm and the diameter of the holes may be about 1 mm.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the method of manufacturing a COB package comprises forming holes in a non-conductive film having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface; forming metal patterns on the first surface of the non-conductive film to partly expose the metal patterns through the holes; forming metal bumps on an active surface of an integrated circuit (IC) chip; disposing the IC chip relative to the second surface of the non-conductive film to insert the metal bumps into the holes of the non-conductive film; and mechanically joining and electrically coupling the metal bumps and the metal patterns.

In the method, the forming of the holes may be carried out using a punch. Further, the forming of the metal patterns may include bonding a metal plate to the first surface of the non-conductive film and thereafter photo-etching the metal plate. Additionally, the forming of the metal bumps may be carried out using electroplating or stud bumping.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the method may further comprise, before the joining of the metal bumps, providing a non-conductive adhesive between the active surface of the IC chip and the second surface of the non-conductive film.

Exemplary, non-limiting embodiments of the present invention provide an IC card having a thin and flexible card body and the above-discussed COB package. The COB package is mounted in the card body through one surface of the card body, and the metal patterns of the package are exposed outside the card body to act as contact terminals of the IC card.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional COB package used for an IC card.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing another convention COB package used for the IC card.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a COB package of a flip chip assembly structure in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 4A to 4D are cross-sectional views showing a method of manufacturing the COB package in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Exemplary, non-limiting embodiments of the present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. This invention, however, may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein. Rather, the disclosed embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. The principles and features of this invention may be employed in varied and numerous embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention.

In this disclosure, well-known structures and processes are not described or illustrated in detail to avoid obscuring the present invention. Furthermore, the figures in the drawings are not drawn to scale. Rather, for simplicity and clarity of illustration, the dimensions of some of the elements are exaggerated relative to other elements. Like reference numerals are used for like and corresponding parts of the various drawings.

FIG. 3 shows, in a cross-sectional view, a COB package of a flip chip assembly structure in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the COB package 30 is mounted in a card body 9 through one surface of the card body 9. The COB package 30 has metal patterns 31 exposed to the outside of the card body 9 to act as contact terminals of the IC card. The metal patterns 31 are formed on an outer surface 32 a of a thin, non-conductive film 32. The metal patterns 31 may be made of copper, for example, and may be plated with, for example, gold. The non-conductive film 32 may be made of resin material such as epoxy or polyimide and have a thickness of about 10 μm to about 20 μm.

The non-conductive film 32 has a number of holes 32 c through which the metal patterns 31 are partly exposed. An IC chip 33 faces an inner surface 32 b of the non-conductive film 32. More particularly, an active surface 33 a of the IC chip 33 faces the inner surface 32 b of the non-conductive film 32. Metal bumps 34 are formed on the active surface 33 a of the IC chip 33.

The metal bumps 34 are locatable in the holes 32 c of the non-conductive film 32 to thereby mechanically join and electrically couple to the metal patterns 31. Therefore, the metal bumps 34 may have a height greater than the thickness of the non-conductive film 32. The height of the metal bumps 34 may be about 40 μm, for example. Further, the metal bumps 34 may have a width smaller than the diameter of the hole 32 c. For example, if the diameter of a hole 32 c is about 1 mm, the width of the corresponding metal bump 34 can be about 20 μm. The metal bump 34 may be made of gold or other suitable metals.

As discussed above, the metal bumps 34 are directly connected to the metal patterns 31 through the holes 32 c. It is thereby unnecessary to form additional metal patterns on the inner surface 32 b of the non-conductive film 32. Further, since the metal bumps 34 replace conventional metal wires; the COB package 30 may have no need of conventional mold resin.

FIGS. 4A to 4D show, in cross-sectional views, a method of manufacturing the COB package in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. From the description of the method, the structure of the COB package will be further disclosed.

FIG. 4A illustrates a step of forming the holes 32 c at proper positions of the non-conductive film 32. The positions of the holes 32 c correspond to the locations of the metal bumps on the IC chip. The holes 32 c may be formed using suitable piercing tool such as a punch.

In FIG. 4B, the metal patterns 31 are formed on the outer surface 32 a of the non-conductive film 32. The metal patterns 31 may be formed from a metal plate first bonded to the outer surface 32 a of the non-conductive film 32 and then patterned by photo etching. The bottom of the metal patterns 31 is partly exposed through the holes 32 c for connections with the metal bumps 34.

As shown in FIG. 4C, the metal bumps 34 are formed on the active surface 33 a of the IC chip 33. As well known in the art, the IC chip 33 has a number of input/output pads (not shown) arranged on the active surface 33 a, and the metal bumps 34 may be formed on the respective input/output pads. The metal bumps 34 may be formed using electroplating, stud bumping, or other suitable known bump-forming techniques.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4D, the IC chip 33 is positioned relative to the inner surface 32 b of the non-conductive film 32 such that the metal bumps 34 enter into the holes 32 c. Corresponding ones of the metal bumps 34 and the metal patterns 31 are mechanically joined and electrically coupled to each other with suitable heat, pressure and/or vibration applied thereto.

In an alternative embodiment, before the metal bumps 34 are joined to the metal patterns 31, a non-conductive adhesive may be interposed between the active surface 33 a of the IC chip 33 and the inner surface 32 b of the film 32 to enhance connection reliability therebetween. The non-conductive adhesive may be, for example, a laminated adhesive tape or adhesive paste.

As discussed above, the COB package according to the present invention has single-sided metal patterns, e.g., formed on only one surface of the non-conductive film. In comparison with conventional double-sided metal patterns, therefore, the COB package of the present invention may have the advantage of reduced production cost. Further, the COB package of embodiments of the present invention may be manufactured through more simplified process since it does not necessarily require additional metal patterns, metal wires and mold resin. As a result, embodiments of the present invention provide a cost-effective IC card.

In addition, the COB package according to embodiments of the present invention adopts the flip chip assembly structure in which the metal bumps provide electrical connections instead of conventional metal wires. Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention may not only avoid poor electrical connections in the COB package, but also improve reliability of the IC card.

While this invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 

1. A method of manufacturing a chip-on-board package, the method comprising: forming a plurality of holes through a non-conductive film having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface; forming conductive patterns on the first surface of the non-conductive film and exposed through the holes; forming conductive bumps on an active surface of an integrated circuit chip; and disposing the integrated circuit chip relative to the second surface of the non-conductive film to make insertable the conductive bumps into the holes of the non-conductive film.
 2. A method of claim 1, further comprising mechanically joining and electrically coupling the conductive bumps and the conductive patterns by way of the holes.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the forming of the holes is carried out using a punch.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the forming of the conductive patterns includes bonding a metal plate to the first surface of the non-conductive film and photo-etching the metal plate.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein the forming of the conductive bumps is carried out using at least one of electroplating and stud bumping.
 6. The method of claim 2, further comprising: interposing a non-conductive adhesive between the active surface of the integrated circuit chip and the second surface of the non-conductive film. 